'A tough and tearful week even for the daughter of the Iron Lady'

Given the security costs associated with the high volume of dignitaries – and protesters – expected in London on the day, it is anticipated that the total bill for the funeral will exceed the £8.1 million spent following the Queen Mother's death in 2002.

Last night a poll showed that half of British people believe the taxpayer should not have to pick up the bill for Margaret Thatcher's funeral, which will have full military honours. A ComRes survey found just 25% thought the funeral should be paid for out of public funds, as against 60% who were opposed.

In other findings, the 33% who believed Thatcher was Britain's greatest peacetime prime minister were outnumbered by the 41% who disagreed. But while 59% said she was the most divisive prime minister they could remember, almost as many – 56% – said the country needed more "conviction politicians" like her.

Carol Thatcher, who spoke outside her mother's Belgravia home, said she was in the midst of a "deeply sad and rather thought-provoking moment in life" given that both her parents were now dead.

She said that the "magnificent" tributes to her mother had given her strength since Thatcher's fatal stroke last Monday, aged 87.

Thatcher said: "I would just like to say that I feel like anyone else who has just lost a second parent. It's a deeply sad and rather thought-provoking moment in life. My mother once said to me: 'Carol, I think my place in history is assured'.

"The magnificent tributes this week, the wonderful words of President Obama, and others of colleagues who once worked alongside her, have proved her right."

Carol Thatcher, a journalist and television presenter, thanked those who had sent her "messages of sympathy and support", adding: "These have given me strength. But I know this is going to be a tough and tearful week, even for the daughter of the Iron Lady."

Yesterday around 2000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square for what was being considered as the leading anti-Thatcher "death party". There was little trouble and only a handful of arrests reported.

Pouring rain may have dampened the sentiment at the gathering which drew a delegation of miners from the north-east of England and scores of students, socialists and class war activists. Five arrests were made by around 8.30pm. In Glasgow's George Square, just 50 people attended a death party in the afternoon.

The Queen has approved a request from the late premier that her coffin will be taken to Parliament's Chapel of St Mary Undercroft on the eve of her funeral.

Around 100 people will also be invited to a short service led by the Dean of Westminster welcoming the body of the longest-serving British premier of the 20th century. The service will not be a public event and will be attended by the family and senior figures from both Houses of Parliament, with any spare seats going to her former staff.

On Wednesday, it is understood she will be moved by hearse to St Clement Danes church – the church of the Royal Air Force in the Strand – with her coffin then to be drawn on a First World War-era gun carriage of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery to St Paul's Cathedral.

The carriage, never used in a funeral before, is likely to be named after Thatcher as is traditional after such occasions.

It will be drawn by six black horses, three of them mounted, all with their manes removed to give them a sleeker appearance.

The carriage will be led by a charger named Mister Twister with a second charger to the side of the other six horses, and three soldiers walking alongside the carriage.

More than 700 members of the armed forces, drawn particularly from regiments linked to the Falklands War, will line the route, with the procession timed to last 19 minutes. No members of her family will walk beside the coffin.

At St Paul's, the bearer party, dressed in their regimental or service uniforms and carefully selected according to their height, will be made up of the Royal Navy/Marines, Scots Guards, Welsh Guards, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Parachute Regiment, Royal Gurkha Rifles and RAF.

Her coffin will be met by a Guard of Honour provided by the Prince of Wales Company of the First Battalion Welsh Guards, which suffered particularly heavy losses during the conflict.

Her detailed funeral plan, codenamed Operation True Blue, was drawn up during former prime minister Tony Blair's time in office, as her health significantly deteriorated.

Major Andrew Chatburn, the man in charge of choreographing the parade, said the plans are based on "precedent and pragmatism" along with the wishes of the former prime minister herself.

"Baroness Thatcher had no direct service relationship. On this occasion it was felt appropriate that service personnel who have an association or connection with the Falklands conflict, for which the late prime minister is pretty famous, was probably the most suitable," he said. "Of course, Baroness Thatcher's wishes will have been taken into account."

The last prime minister to have such a send off was Winston Churchill in 1965, although he had a state funeral.

A total of 183 musicians are taking part in the procession and service, with Chatburn saying the procession poses a "significant challenge for the musicians" as the pace of funeral marches is irregular. While the pace of the music is 60 beats per minute, the procession will move at 70 beats per minute.

In her instructions for the service, Thatcher has requested a reading from John 14.1, which says: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

It is understood that Thatcher's 19-year-old granddaughter Amanda, the daughter of Mark Thatcher and his former wife Diane Beckett, will also give a reading. The university student is due to arrive in London from her home in Texas over the coming days with her brother Michael, a chemistry graduate who now works in a pharmacy.

The service will also include readings from the Book of Common Prayer, including the burial prayer that begins: "Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live and is full of misery. He cometh up and is cut down like a flower."

Among the other hymns selected by Thatcher are John Bunyan's To Be a Pilgrim and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.

The dress code for the funeral has been specified as "full day ceremonial without swords" and morning dress. Guests will include The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh plus a selection of world leaders past and present. All surviving US presidents have been invited.

Meanwhile, Thatcher and her late husband Sir Denis are expected to be remembered by a plaque at a church in a village with which he had family connections.

Sir Denis, who died aged 88 in 2003, wrote a provision in his will that a memorial should be put up to the couple at St Mary's Church in Uffington, Oxfordshire, after his wife's death.

The Rev Rosanna Martin, the vicar, said: "Provided the Oxford diocese agrees, I would expect somebody to design a plaque dedicated to the couple which would join the six other plaques to various Thatchers on the south porch of the church."

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l Holyrood debate

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